


In the Middle of the Night

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), F/M, Fluff, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Reader-Insert, Slow Build, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-12 08:31:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7927897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’re just a normal woman living in an apartment within the area of Washington D.C. Of course you aren’t oblivious to the superhero things happening around you. You’ve done research (just for self-education) on each and every single one. You’re happy that you’re not involved in any of these things, until a man decides to knock on your door in the middle of the night.</p><p>[discontinued as of 16/09/16.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Middle of the Night

Two years ago, there were aliens and gods and an angry green monsters in New York. The Avengers fought the robotic-like ( _repulsive_ ) aliens and saved the day, as always, but at that time you were still cautious and scared. Despite Captain America’s reassuring words to citizens (‘ _It’s okay, we’re all safe now, Miss (Y/n)._ ’), you didn’t want to stay. So you decided to move to somewhere a little farther away—Washington D.C. You enjoyed being here even though there were still news about the Avengers circulating around. On the small screens of mobiles and large ones of televisions, on the inked pages of newspapers, everywhere. People would say that it wasn’t so helpful to move to a place just a few states away but you needed to get away. (Well, you complained about how you didn’t move somewhere farther away sometimes, but your money was running low. You had to just deal with it.)

You were a waitress at a small restaurant. It didn’t give you much money but you still had enough to buy food and other maintenances. You _knew_ moving out was never going to be easy.

After about two hours of traffic, trying your best to survive in the sweat-smelled car and paying more than you should, you finally arrived to your apartment. You had rushed to the shower and changed into some comfortable baggy clothes. A loud sigh left your lips as you plopped down onto the soft mattress of the couch. When you looked at the screen, you realized that you didn’t turn the television off on your way to work. Oh well, more money to find. Your electricity bill was already high after many hours of air conditioning. You looked at time on your DVD player— _five p.m., dammit, why am I not tired?_ —and decided to continue watching the series you didn’t finish the other day. “Nothing’s fun without food or drinks, right?” You muttered to yourself, getting up to find some snacks in the fridge.

You came back with a bag of your favorite snack and a glass of water. As much as you enjoyed your favorite drink, you didn’t like drinking it every few hours. You leaned back and watched the episode, being prepared to yell at the characters if they did anything stupid. You were enjoying it until a knock was heard from your door. “Ugh,” you groaned and stood up, dragging yourself to the door and putting on your best ‘ _I’m totally not annoyed_ ’ expression. You didn’t even _know_ who could’ve come to your apartment until you opened the door and met a man who covered his face with a hoodie. You never your address to anyone apart from your family and friends. “You’re definitely not one of my friends for sure,” you said. “Who are you?”

He doesn’t answer. “Jay… James. My name is James.” There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice but you chose to ignore it.

“Well, James, it’s almost midnight and I’m currently enjoying my favorite show until you interrupted me,” you complained and he flinches a bit. He mutters a meek apology and _damn_ you feel quite harsh and guilty. “So why are you here?”

“I’m…” ‘James’ tried to find the right word, anything he could think of that meant _no home_. “I don’t have a place to go.”

Your eyes softened a bit. You don’t usually care about homeless people; you threw them a few coins sometimes but this one… you couldn’t describe him. You stepped back a few steps and told him to come in, and he hesitated a bit before entering your room. It wasn’t strange—you did talk to him rather rudely. “I’ll let you stay, I guess,” you shrugged and closed the door, locking it. “Are you hungry, James? I can make you a quick sandwich. I haven’t gone to the store yet.” Wow, talk about a sudden change of mood.

He nodded and responded to you with a quiet, “ _Thank you_.”

You opened the cabinets, taking out the ingredients for a simple ham sandwich. “You can sit on the couch, it’s okay.” He sat down and let out a relieved sigh. Once you were done with the sandwich, you walked over to the couch and gave it to him. James received the sandwich and since the silence was beginning to be awkward, you decided to make a conversation. “I’m (Y/n) (L/n). Or you know, just (Y/n),” you gave him a small smile. “Tell me about yourself.” He froze at the last sentence and gulped, the carpet suddenly turning into an interesting object.

“I don’t know.” He replied. “I don’t remember anything.”

“Excuse me,” you said and tugged down the back of his hoodie so his face is revealed. You looked at him for a few seconds and he looked at you, until recognition hit you like a big wave.

_ It’s the Winter Soldier! Holy shit! _

“You know who I am?” James asked and you heard the whirring of metal plates coming from his left arm. That was no doubt the famous red star marked metal arm everyone talked about on the media. From what you’ve seen on the news, he was usually dressed in black combat gear. Fear suddenly crept into your nerves and you realized that you shouldn’t (or even try to) piss him off.

“Yes,” your voice came out in an embarrassing squeak. “You’re the Winter Soldier. James Buchanan Barnes. If that’s what you’re thinking, no, I’m not going to kick you out because you’re the Winter Soldier.” That would be a very asshole move for you to do.

James took another bite of his sandwich, chewing it and looking up at you in confusion. He swallowed the mouthful of bread (with a bonus of anxiety and fear). “Why? I killed people.”

“Yes, you did,” you told him. How were you taking this so casually? “You killed people because you were ordered to, not because you wanted to. And I’m not going to let you be captured, because that would be a mean thing to do. Plus, you look like you hadn’t slept in years.” _Maybe he literally hadn’t slept in years_. _Being cryogenically frozen isn’t exactly considered sleep._ “You can stay. I promise I won’t turn into a raging green monster or hit you with a heavy hammer.” You finished off the sentence with a smile. He looked confused at that part.  _Of course_ he would be confused.

The corners of his lips had twitched up a bit, like he was trying to smile but it was an unfamiliar action to him. Everything and everyone was unfamiliar to him. His head was pounding and you could tell because he reached his human arm up to massage his temple. “Alright. I’ll go get you some pillows, blankets and some comfortable clothes you can wear. You’ll have to sleep on the couch tonight – I don’t have a spare bed, sorry.”

“Okay.”

It was a big risk to have an ex-assassin in your room. Police and probably HYDRA have their eyes on him. You’d probably be a suspect soon. But on the bright side – you’re getting a new friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if anything is inaccurate. I've never been to a place less hot than thirty-two degrees celsius. 
> 
> Also, if you're reading this, thank you (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)


End file.
